1,4 dioxane

(by: https://www.bettereatingforlife.com/)

There are certain things known to cause cancer that we all for the most part try and stay far from liking smoking cigarettes and eating very unhealthy food every day. But what about the more silent killers, the ones we do not think about and may not even know are there. Que in 1,4 – Dioxane. This chemical is not actually put into products intentionally, for the most part, instead, it forms as a bi-product of different chemicals mixing during the synthesis of ethylene oxide and ethoxylate surfactants. So, if you live in the United States where the FDA approves products it is possible, you’d never know this product was in your personal care products because technically it is not an ingredient but a bi-product, talk abbot loopholes. Lucky for us south of the border dioxane is on the Health Canada’s Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist, which prohibits or restricts its use in cosmetics. For those in other countries fortunately the amount of dioxane found as a bi-product in products is said to be insignificant enough to not cause too much harm. Fortunately, acute short term exposure hasn’t been proven to have serious dangerous effects. I was super surprised to find out high levels of 1,4- dioxane are present in Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Body Wash, while I’ve never used the body wash. I have used the body mist. Hopefully, it did not contain the same high levels of dioxane. So, you may be wondering what you can do to protect yourself from these chemicals. There are many lifestyle habits that can help like healthy eating and exercise. One big take away that I’ve come up with after doing this product is to just do your best to be aware of what is in the products you use, of course, this will not always work when things are not listed but as individuals, we can only do our best and try not to stress to much about, as stress is also a silent killer.

 

CitizensCampaign, 2018 Consumer Shopping Guide. 2018https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b72eb5b8ab7222baffc8dbb/t/5c70869924a694a5a159cefe/1550878371100/DioxaneShoppersGuide.pdf ( Retrieved. 2021)